5/8/11 - T minus 7

Wow, the exam is getting closer! I haven't posted very much during studying for this exam - I'm not sure if it is just because I have been super busy, or because the additional time I have had to study has caused me to approach it a little differently. While I used the blog last time to keep myself on the pace and allow myself to look back, maybe I haven't had the need to do so this time around? I know it would have been helpful to see my exact progress if I had posted more. Perhaps next time around I will post a bit more.

That being said, we are down to the final week. The past 18 days have been tough. I find myself going from total despair, to a feeling like I have a little bit of a chance, and back to total despair. Two members of my family were sick for an entire week two weeks ago, so it was very difficult for me to find time to study that week, and the time I was able to dedicate wasn't very productive because my attention was split and I was already exhausted from taking care of my family. Last week I was able to put a lot of time in and make a lot of progress, and I fully intend to this week as well.

I have taken some of the ASM practice exams and find them pretty tough. While I am not taking all of them under true exam conditions, I find I am able to answer about 50% of the questions. Some of the Brownian Motion and Ito's Lemma applications I find tough, as well as anything beyond the very basics of the interest rate models sections.

As for things I am trying to add to my repertoire this week, I hope to nail down state pricing, converting from risk neutral to true probabilities and returns, and a few other things I have noticed I need to brush up on here or there. Perhaps in the next day or two I should put together a post with a game plan of stuff I know, stuff I think I can master, stuff I can maybe get but is difficult, and stuff I feel I have no chance on. I will do that if I can, but really my first priority now is studying of course.

This has been a long and grueling process. I'm not sure if next time around I will start studying so early. At this point I feel like I have study exhaustion. I will be in a slightly different situation this time around in that I won't have my results for 8 weeks, so perhaps I will use that time as a total break, since I won't know which exam I am taking next until I get my results. As of now, I intend to take MLC if I pass MFE.

As of right now, my confidence is only at about a 3.